Log raft and towing bridle therefor



Sept. 29, 1925. 1,555,181

J. c. BROWNFIELD LOG RAFT AND TOWING BRIDLE THEEFOR Filed Aug. ll, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Fai 1- 1 ya@ mffzfw 61u01 new Sept. 29, 1925.

J. C. BROWNFIELD I KJG RAFT AND TOWING BRIDLE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 11, 1924 z'shets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept, Z9, 1925.

entren STATES JAMES C. BROWNFIELD, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

LOG- RAFT AND TOVING BRIDLE THEBEFOB.

Application led August l1, 1924, Serial No. 731,390;

To all 107mm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Twins BrownrIELD, a citizen. of the llnited tit-'aies of America, and resident of the city of Seattle, in the county of King and State of allesbington, hare invented certain new and useful Improvements in Log Rafts and Towinfo,` Bridles Therefor, of which the following` is a specification;

My invention relates to rafts which particularly .intended for rafting logs over long;a distances and inV water which is liable to be rough.

It is, therefore an object of n'iy invention toA provide a raft in which the individual logs comprising' thcsame aro securely held' yet which is flexible to an extent that each may have movement independent of th" other logs. so arranged that if one or more logisr becomes detached fromv the raft it has no tendency to detach other logs therefrom.

A further object is the provision of snch a loeraft in which all of the l'ofrs are floating and a towingbridle therefor by means of which all of the lofts are attached more or less directly to a centra-l line which is directly connected' to the towing; thus causi the stra-i-ns'iny towing` to extend alongl linesv which are nearly straight.

A further object ifs the provision of snch a raft which may be made up cheaply, in shallow water if necessary, and without the necessity for constructing cradles, wharfs or like structures7 or the employment of derricks.

A further object is the provi-sion of such ai raft and towing bridle which be made in sections and which willtow the logs segregated in sections, as many sections as are desired, consistent with the strength of the towing' members, lbeing; employed in the raft.

A; further object is the provision of a towingr bridle for such rafts whichrenders the formation of the raft simple and convenient.

Other objects will be ascertained from a study of the drawings attached hereto, which show a number of preferred forms of my invention` and of the specification and claims terminating the same.

My invention comprises those novel parts and'co-mbinations thereof which are shown in the accompanying drawings, described in the specification and particularly defined by the claims terminating the same.

In the accompanying` drawings I have shown my invention in the forms which are now preferred by me.

The figures are plal views, of various forms of the raft. Figure 'l beine' the formY now most preferred by meby and Figures 2, 3 and l being modilications of the sain' p jeneral idea. Y

It is customary to prepare rafts of treelenggth logsfor long` distance toi-ving; by binding` them with ropes and chains into a more or less rigid cigar-shaped mass, some of the lopgs bei submerged.- and others lying' upon and being;` buoyed by the submerged logs. Such rafts are of the general type shown in the pat/nt to Davis, No; 1,142,239. They have proven fairly satisfactory, but occasionally, in rough weather., will be broken up, and once such a raft starts toy break the lossI of the entire raft is probable. rIhe safety, therefore, of the entire raft is more or less dependent upon each cable or chain which enters into the construction of the raft, and if a single cable or chain breaks-they raft is liable to'destruction.A This necessitates th" use of heavy cables and, chains` and maltes'the raft expensive. Furthenl such. rafts require special derricks and deep water i-n which to build them. Therev are numerous good harbors along` the Pacific Coast which are too shallow'` to permitthe formation of any rafts except of floating,r logis. Rafts deeper than a single long-when nnder wa y draw considerable water and' are ditlicult. to tow.

It has also been proposed to form rafts of floating logs, but so far as is known to me such rafts, while capable of being constructed in shallow water, are open to the objection that their safetyis chiefly dfpendent upon aI few of the many logs embodied in the raft, and if the key logs are lost the entire raft will ,9;0 to pieces. Such rafts, to avoid the obvious danger of loss, must be strongly bound. together and their cost. is thus increased.- f f Accordins to, my invention I propose `to form a raft havin-, 1 the advantage of the floatingY rafts, that is to say,-on.e which may be made up in shallow water and in sections ifY necessary, the sections to be connected after their form-atiom and one in which the cables or chains may be comparatively light and inexpensive, and in which. the loss of one or more logs will not affect the remainder nor render the remainder more liable to break away. Such a raft as l propose will also include the advantages of flexibility and consequLnt ease of handling' and convenience in manufmzture and asseinbly.

The raft proper is made up of a series of logs each floating upon the surface. Preferably such logs are arranged in sections, the logis l, of each section extending` parallel and longitudinally of the raft so that the rear ends of the logs in a forward section will lie adjacent the forward ends of the loes in a rear section. To secure together the logs in a given section T employ members 2 such as cables, which l may term side lines, and which are connected to the forward ends of the logs l of each section. This may be done by boring); all of the forward ends of the logs. as indicated at 3, and passing; the side lines 2 through these bores, securing' a knob or like member l upon the outer end of the side line to keep it from pulling; through the bores 3 in the various logs. For each section in the preferred form two such side lines are employed, these extending at either side of a master line 5 which extends from end to end of the raft and centrally thereof.

Preferably this master line is made up of a plurality of sections, each section having: at its forward end a clevis t3 or like detachable securing' means by which it may be connected to the rear end of the next section of the master line ahead of it, and having connected to its rear end the two side lines 2. These side lines may be permanently or detachably secured to the end of their corresponding master line section, and it is to a 'large extent immaterial whether this connection is to the forward end or to the rear end of the master line section.

The master line itself may be either a cable. chain, or like flexible member, or may be composed, as in Figure 5l, of a series of logs 5, 'flexibly connected. as by the cables 7. In the form shown in Figure 4 the master line sections are again divided, each section 5 having; a single side line 2 secured thereto, the side lines extending in opposite directions for alternate master line sections. It is preferable that the side lines be cables or like flexible members so that when a strain is placed upon the master line the side lines will tend to drag and aline themselves with the master line, thus to place the towing strain as nearly as possible in a straight line from the tow line to the outermost of the logrs l. This will serve to press the logs 1 inward toward the master line, or at least their forward ends, but will leave their rear ends free to separate somewhat with the action of the waves. They will each be quite free to take their own course, thus rendering the raft flexible,

able to, pass through narrow spaces and able to absorb stresses which would seriously shake and damage a rigid raft.

Owing to the manner in which the logs are secured to the side lines, and the side line in turn are secured directly to the master line. no one log is dependent on any other log-j for its connection to the tow line. lf any siren loe, either the outermost lop; in a section or an inner loe'.v be torn from its connection to the side line 2, throiugli tearing out the material between the holes 3 ant the forward ends of the logs this will not tend to release or disengaae any other logq from the side line. but will merely make a gap which will be filled up by the tendency toward outward movement of the logs in each section. in towing. Thus if in heavy weather one or more logs is lost from a section, it will ordinarily have no effect uponthe remainder of the raft. By formthe raft in sections it is made easy to assemble and the sections may be towed to an assembling` point and there assembled into the entire rart. The side lines need not he extremely heavy, as they serve only to tow a relatively small. number of floating` lole's and the strain upon them is nearly in a straight line direction. The master lines of course must be strong' enough to carry the load of the raft behind them, but inasmuch as all the pull is in a straight line and is equalized by the spacingY of the logs at opposite sides of the master line, this master line need not be as heavy as is ordinarily required for towing flexible rafts.

It may occasionally be found desirable to restrain somewhat the tendency of the rear ends of the longs of a section from floatingl outward from the section. To this end 1 have shown in Figure 2 a line 8 which is passed over the rear end of the lors of a section and which may be secured to the outer logs and to various intermediate logs. as is indicated at 9. ln this manner the logs may be kept from spreading` too lgreatly. although the raft still retains its flexible characteristics. It may also be desirable to employ more than one master line, but this l consider mere duplication. Also, if the master line requires strenfrthenine.y additional lines may be used to strengthen it, this being a matter of proper engineering.

lllhat l claim as my invention is:.

l. A raft comprising a single longitudinally extending back bene. members secured thereto at intervals and extending laterally therefrom at each side to leave their outer ends free.y said members being flexibly connected to the backbone, and :i plurality of sections of loes extendingf parallel to the backbone, the forward ends of each individual log in each section being secured to said laterally-extending members.

2. In a log raft, a plurality of logs ar ranged in successive sections, the logs in each section being parallel and extending longi* iudinally, and the successive sections eX- lenning longitudinally of the raft, means flexibly connecting the forward ends of each individual log in each section, and a single tension ineinber extending` longitudinally centrally of the raft, said connecting means being secured at its inner end to the said tension member a outer end being unrestrained.

3. il raft coniprising a plurality of logs disposed in sections, the logs in each sec tion being parallel and extending longitudinally, and the several sections being disposed longitudinally of the raft, a single master line extending frein end to end of the raft, and side lines corresponding to each section secured thereto at intervals and extending laterally therefrom at each side, each of said side lines being secured to the forward end of each individual log in the corresponding section, the rear ends of the logs being unconnected to said master line.

el. ln a log raft, a plurality of logs arranged in sections, the logs in each section being parallel, and the sections being disposed With the foi-Ward ends of the logs of a rear section adjacent the rear ends of the logs of 'a forward section, the forward ends of all of said logs being bored, a centrally positioned niaster line extending from end to end of the raft, and a side line passed through the bores of the logs in each section at either side of said inaster line, the inner ends of the side lines being secured to tlie iste? line.

ln ay log raft, a plurality of logs arranged in sections, the logs in each section being parallel and extending longitudinally, a master line section extending forwardly freni each section of the raft, means for se curing the several sections of the master line together to forni a line extending from end to end of the raft and centrally thereof, and side lines secured `to the rear ends of each section of the master line and extending laterally at each side thereof, said side lines l'ieing secured to the forward ends of the in the corresponding section of the raft.

6. i towing bridle for log rafts coniprising inaster line and a plurality of side lines connected thereto at log length intervals by one end only, and extending later ally ll erefroni, and of a length corresponding to the combined Widths of a plurality of logs.

7. towing bridle for log rafts comprisin;Y a master line formed in sections of log length connected end to end, and a pair of side lines secured by one end only to an end of each section of the master line and extending at opposite sides thereof to a distance corresponding to the combined Widths of a plurality of logs.

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washington, this lst day of August, 1924.

JAMES C. BROVNFIEL'D. 

